The Chemical and Materials Physics Program is a concentration in the
Physical Sciences graduate degree program at UCI. It was created by the
faculty of the UCI Departments of Physics and Chemistry. Through the
program students can earn a Masters (M.S.) degree or Doctor of Philosophy
(Ph.D.) degree. The Masters degree is designed to provide an excellent
training for beginning a career in high technology industries, or for
efficiently pursuing specialized research and studies leading to the Ph.D.

Why do we have it?

The Concentration in Chemical and Materials Physics is essentially a
reorganization and merger of the graduate curricula in Physical Chemistry
and Condensed Matter Physics. The intellectual underpinnings and research
goals of these two disciplines largely overlap, and their separation into
two different departments (Chemistry, and Physics and Astronomy) is an
historical artifact of an era in which chemical understanding was more
qualitative and physicists concentrated their attention on chemically
simple model systems. The current research emphasis in both fields is to
provide a microscopic, first principles understanding of matter in all of
its forms, and to use this understanding in the design and applications of
a wide variety of novel materials.

Another important recent development which has motivated a nationwide
reexamination of the graduate curricula in Physical Chemistry and Condensed
Matter Physics is the changing nature of careers in the physical sciences.
The traditional curriculum in both departments is implicitly based on the
assumption that students are preparing for an academic career. However,
preparing students "in our own image" based on the assumption that they
will have similar positions at a research university does not reflect the
reality of the job market. Although there is essentially zero unemployment
among physical science graduates, only a small fraction of PhDs become
academic investigators. A full 95 percent of PhDs take positions in non-
academic sectors, primarily in industry. Moreover, industrial employment
opportunities for physical scientists have undergone profound changes in
recent years.
The central research laboratories at large corporations have been
downsized, and have been replaced by research and development operations of
an increasing number of smaller high technology companies. Increasingly the
demand in the new job market is for scientists with breadth and
versatility, since in the new setting a single scientist is expected to
carry out a wide variety of tasks. Physical scientists working in the
semiconductor, biotechnology, or environmental sensing industries require
the skills at the intersection of physics, chemistry, and materials that
the ChaMP Concentration will provide.

Is it demanding?

Of course, but the program provides students with the academic training to
meet these challenges. The program offers more flexibility than some
traditional programs: a student can elect to pursue a two-year Masters or
more traditional five-year doctorate program, and need not decide which
option to pick until completion of the Masters program. Flexibility also
exists in the classroom instruction, which contains a considerable number
of elective graduate courses that can be chosen to fit a student's specific
field of interest. The possibilities for research opportunities are
numerous, of course, as one might expect in a program that spans two
Departments and 23 faculty members.

The program begins with a unique Summer Session that integrates incoming
graduate students from both physics and chemistry. Cross-training in either
physics or chemistry and a rigorous Laboratory Skills course will allow
students to develop an academic foundation for their next two years at UCI.

What is the role of industry?

We have a circle of advisors from high-tech industry located (for the most
part) in Orange County. By keeping in close contact with these
representatives of the industries that employ our graduates, we keep our
educational program tuned to current and developing industrial needs. The
program also puts a premium in the early stages of a student's career on
mastering an array of practical technology skills (e.g. laser spectroscopy,
optics and instrumentation design, electronics, chemical safety and
handling, CAD, computer simulation and molecular modeling). In the later
stages of the program the emphasis is naturally on developing the ability
to conduct independent research.

What exactly does one get a degree in?

The M.S. or Ph.D. is in Physics or Chemistry, as usual, and at the
student's choice. However, the posting of the degree includes a
concentration in Chemical and Materials Physics.

What are a graduate's career opportunities?

A host of modern technologies in the high-tech industry lie at the
interface between chemistry and physics. Students training for 21st
century careers in, e.g., microelectronics, biotech, advanced materials,
aerospace, or medical physics need training that encompasses the powerful
techniques in both fields, and which takes full advantage of research
experience possible in both Departments along with valuable opportunities
in private industry.